Friday, April 20, 2007

(untitled 144)

Two cool things, in the order that they happened to me:

1. I fell asleep at work. In my boss's office. With him watching me. While I was reading a book.

I am the man.

2. I got the following email from the Kellog's Corporation in response to my earlier query about what the K in "Kellog's Special K" stood for:

Mr. [Optimistic.],

Thank you for contacting us concerning what the K stands for in KELLOGG'S® SPECIAL K®. We appreciate your interest in our company and products.

In naming our products, we try to choose words that describe the cereal and can be protected by a trademark. KELLOGG'S® SPECIAL K® cereal was developed in the mid-1950s as an entirely new kind of cereal. Since we felt that most Americans were familiar with the 'K' in our logo and that this was a special kind of cereal, the name KELLOGG’S® SPECIAL K® seemed quite appropriate.

Here is a little more information that might be of interest to you. The name KELLOGG'S® FROOT LOOPS® cereal describes the flavor and shape of this product. By changing the spelling of the word “fruit,” we selected a name that could easily be registered as a trademark. The name KELLOGG'S® POP-TARTS® Toaster Pastries is also descriptive. These toaster pastries are “tarts,” and they “pop” up in a toaster when heated. When KELLOGG’S® APPLE JACKS® was introduced in 1965, the apple ingredient was promoted on our package and in our advertising. In recent years, our market research with kids tells us that they do not necessarily separate the apple flavor in this product as the one they most enjoy or even perceive. They simply agree that they like the taste and the combination of flavors that KELLOGG’S® APPLE JACKS® provides. KELLOGG'S® PRODUCT 19® cereal was the nineteenth product introduced in the Kellogg’s™ line of brands. Since the cereal had been referred to in this way during the development stage, we decided to keep this name and register it.

We appreciate your interest in our company and products.


Sincerely,


Idalia Acosta
Consumer Affairs Department

4IXA/cl

012571681A

Kellogg North America
PO Box CAMB
Battle Creek, MI 49016-1986

And now you know.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Wow. Now I know, indeed. Gotta love helpful company reps, especially in our line of work.

Unknown said...

well somebody had fun writing that letter. and what the heck is product 19?

Anonymous said...

was that a board question? I like that they explained the meaning of froot loops. Who would have thought that they got that name because they are meant to taste like fruit and are in little round loops. Pure genious I say. Do you find it odd that our primary means of communication now is over the internet? Well, you probably don't because you use the internet a lot. But its weird for me! I'm beginning to see you as this vague online persona. Do I really even know the real [optimistic.] anymore? Well, will you be around during the summer so that I can get my real-life [optimistic.] fix?

Melyngoch said...

And knowing is half the battle.

Brooklyn said...

Apple Jacks commercials are my favorite.

"Dad ... you don't ask, we don't ask." That one in particular.